Page 60 of Code Name: Grit

“Agreed,” Dragon confirmed. “Intercepted communications point to these Belcastro locations.” The map highlighted six spots across New York City. “Likely within twelve hours.”

Lumi looked up from her terminal, her eyes meeting mine across the room. Her expression remained closed, but I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. Why now?

Admiral gathered the core team around the central display. Lumi positioned herself between Dragon and Alice, maintaining her distance from me.

“The Patriarcas believe I have value to the Belcastros,” Lumi stated evenly. “Without knowing exactly why.”

“Precisely,” Admiral agreed. “According to what we read in the intercepted messages, they noticed you resemble Belcastro family members but haven’t confirmed you’re Cassio’s daughter.”

“We don’t have enough resources to handle a full-scale mob war,” I said.

“Agreed,” said Admiral.

“Help from the DOJ is out of the question,” Dante countered. “No doubt Keller will intercept the requests.”

“The bureau is out of the question too,” Admiral added. “We need as much internal support as we can get.”

“We can go directly to the bureau director,” I suggested. “Bypass the regular channels.”

Just as he finished the sentence, an alert sounded through the room.

“Someone’s attempting to access our network,” Alice announced.

Dragon joined her, and they both analyzed the breach. “Advanced intrusion attempt. Whoever’s doing this has military-grade capabilities.”

“Can you trace it?” Admiral asked.

“The signature suggests a sophisticated encryption,” Dragon said, eyes narrowed at her screen. “This isn’t amateur work. They have access to restricted technology.”

A second alert—this one from the perimeter sensors—activated immediately after.

“Motion detectors triggered in sequence,” Tank confirmed, bringing up the security feed. “East side of the compound.”

The exterior cameras showed nothing despite the continued alerts.

“Could they be masking their heat signatures?” Atticus suggested.

“Probably,” Tank agreed. “The way the sensors are triggering shows trained personnel approaching.”

Admiral’s decision was immediate. “Full security protocol. Nonessential staff to secure rooms. Core team stays in the command center with the critical systems.”

The compound shifted to defensive status. Communications transferred to the secure channels as everyone moved to their designated positions and I crossed to Lumi.

“How are you doing?” I asked, leaning in so only she could hear me.

The tightness in her jaw and shoulders lessened as she shifted close enough for our arms to touch. “Okay. Stressed. How did it go in the city?”

“I suspect a full-scale gang war is brewing. The Patriarcas are positioning themselves to stop the Belcastros from taking over the territories that used to belong to the Castellanos. Cassio, in turn, has no intention of letting the progress he’s made thus far go.”

“The Belcastros are more powerful, but not by that much. If the Patriarcas have managed to bring in more of Castellano’s crew, they’d be in a better position to stage an out-and-out power struggle.”

I nodded. “The Belcastros have the DOJ on their side.”

She appeared lost in thought for a few seconds, but then her eyes met mine. “The Patriarcas do too.”

I remembered Admiral’s theory. “You’re right. Keller’s playing both sides, hoping the war will do enough damage to both families that they’ll be out of play.”

“Not just both sides. He could be working with either the Genoveses, Columbos, or Bonnanos.”

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